Rachel had called while they were in the middle of dinner asking to come over. She said it was urgent and extremely important. Kurt was washing up the dinner dishes when the knock on the door came. Blaine got up from the table where he had been flipping through a magazine and answered the door. Rachel gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek as she walked through the door. She had been greeting her friends that way since she had read on some prestigious website that it was the proper way to greet one's close companions. She took off her coat and walked over to Kurt. She didn't hug him because his hands were wet from doing the dishes but she did kiss his cheek.
"Oh my god, Kurt, you need to shave! You're all stubbly," she exclaimed as she brushed the side of her cheek with a scowl on her face.
Blaine smiled and responded, "I think it's sexy." As Kurt turned back to the dishes with a grin.
"So, what's so important that you had to run over here so fast?" Kurt asked with a bit of concern in his voice.
Rachel had been standing by the stove with her hands folded together against her chest and her head downcast. She cleared her voice and said, "Jesse proposed." She paused and flung out her hand to reveal the ring as she exclaimed, "And I said yes!" She had a huge smile on her face as she shimmered the large diamond into the light.
Blaine got up from his chair and walked over to enclose her in a big hug. "Congratulations!" He muffled into her hair. He let go and looked at the ring for a moment and smiled. "It's gorgeous," he responded and kissed her hand gently to congratulate her.
He sat back down and both he and Rachel looked at Kurt for him to say something, but he didn't. He had put the bowl he was washing into the sink and had both of his hands on the counter on either side of the sink. The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Finally, Rachel spoke. She was very quiet as she said, "I don't blame you, Kurt." Blaine had no idea what she was talking about, but she continued to speak. "I know you think that because you were so against," she paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Because you were so against Finn and I getting married that you stole time away from us that we could have had together. But that's not true. Finn wanted me to be free to pursue my dream. It didn't have anything to do with you not wanting us to get married." She went over and wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a hug.
Kurt finally let out the breath he had been holding in since she announced her engagement. Rachel backed away and sat in the chair as Kurt brought his left hand to his eyes then turned around.
He had a huge smile on his face as he said, "Well I guess we have a wedding to start planning." Rachel stood up and gave him a big hug as she squealed. "It's going to be amazing," he continued as she finally let go.
They all sat down. Kurt sat next to Blaine and they held hands. Rachel said, "I want you guys to help me with everything! And of course, you'll be my maids, well men, of honor." She didn't even give them a chance to agree because she knew what the answer would be.
Blaine said, "Well, if we didn't get to plan our own wedding, then this is a good second."
Kurt smiled and said, "But just showing up and having everything done was so easy." Blaine grasped his hand and smiled at him.
"Ok," Rachel said with a joking tone, "this is about me." They all laughed together.
Just a few weeks later, they were at a bridal shop with Rachel trying on dresses. They had been there for over an hour; Rachel had already tried on seven dresses and none of them were even close to being "the one". Blaine was sitting on the seats waiting for Rachel to come out with the next one on as Kurt was scouring the racks for another dress for Rachel to try on. All of the previous ones Kurt had called "way to generic for Ms. Rachel Berry" so he was trying to find something better.
Rachel came out in the next one and they all knew automatically that it wasn't the one. "You look like a sleazy waitress," Kurt said at the silky, low cut gown.
Rachel looked in the mirror and frowned, "For a night out it would be fine, but not my wedding. Who even picked this out?" She said frustrated as she looked at the sales clerk with annoyance knowing that neither she nor the boys would have suggested this one. "Kurt," she said getting more and more annoyed at the situation. "What are you even looking for? It's been twenty minutes and you still haven't given any good suggestions!"
"Well, since you've been vague about what you want, I've been trying to find something, but nothing seems right," he said quite calmly for having just been huffed at by Rachel.
Rachel sat down next to Blaine, "Maybe we should try a different store," he asked apprehensively looking to Rachel and Kurt for approval.
Rachel looked at her phone and said, "I've got rehearsal in an hour anyway." She stayed seated for a moment and Kurt came over to join them. "I just wish I knew more of what I want," she said to herself with a sigh.
Kurt sat down next to her, took her hand, and spoke softly, "I have an idea. Give me two weeks. I know it's not how you saw this going, but let me run with my idea."
Rachel looked up at him. She was a little nervous because he wasn't being very forthcoming, but she had known him for so long and trusted him enough to let him go with his idea. She nodded and got up to change her clothes.
After Rachel was preoccupied, Blaine looked over at Kurt and whispered, "What are you scheming, Kurt?"
He just smiled with his devilish grin without giving an answer.
It had been two weeks since they were at the shop. Rachel had consulted Blaine and Kurt on some other wedding decisions, but Kurt was surprisingly absent. Rachel was desperate to know what he was up to, but she didn't ask. She had asked Blaine and all he knew was that Kurt was spending a lot of time in their extra bedroom with the door shut.
It was Friday night when Kurt finally called Rachel to tell her that his project was complete and wanted to know if she would come by the apartment tomorrow. She agreed to be there around eleven.
Rachel walked up to their apartment and knocked lightly on the door. Kurt opened the door with a huge smile on his face. He gave her a big hug and brought her to the living room. She was surprised to see that Blaine was already seated and waiting. She looked at Blaine and said, "Do you have any idea what he's been up to?"
"Not a clue. He hasn't said anything to me," he responded.
Kurt stood before them and clapped his hands together to get their attention. "So, we all know that a few weeks ago, we went wedding dress shopping and had no luck getting anything close to where we need to be. I know you wanted to try other stores, but I couldn't shake the feeling that everything looked the same in that shop and I just know that everything in the other shops would look just as generic."
Rachel nodded in agreement and opened her mouth and began to speak but Kurt continued before she did. "So, after we left, I went to the thrift store and bought a few different dresses. And I came back here and took pieces from different ones and put them together to make a truly one of a kind dress."
Rachel started jumping up and down. "Are you serious Kurt?!" She pleaded. "Did you really make me a dress?!"
"Calm down, calm down," he replied as he walked to the hall closet and pulled out a garment bag.
Rachel ran over to him and grabbed the dress before anyone could say anything else and ran with it to the bathroom. Blaine walked over to Kurt and smiled as he said, "So that's what you've been caught up with the last few weeks." He bumped his hip into his side, "I thought you were starting to get bored of me." He had a teasing smirk on his face.
Kurt rolled his eyes with a smile and replied, "Bored? With you? I don't think that's possible." He kissed Blaine on the cheek just as Rachel shouted to ask Kurt to help her. "Blaine, can you grab our full-length mirror from the bedroom and bring it out here." Blaine nodded and Kurt thanked him.
He walked into the bathroom and helped Rachel with the zipper. She was refusing to look in the partial mirror because she wanted to see the whole thing all at once. After Kurt made a few last-minute adjustments to the dress, he took out the veil and pushed the comb up under her ponytail. He smiled at his work but tried to not get too excited before Rachel had officially approved it.
As soon as Rachel walked out, Blaine's face lit up. It looked amazing and Kurt had clearly outdone himself. Rachel walked to the full-length mirror and looked at herself for the first time. She wasn't surprised that it was amazing, but she wasn't expecting for her breath to get caught in her chest at her first glimpse at herself.
She took in the whole dress by pieces. Technically it was a dress with thicker straps, but they were made of delicate lace. It made the dress with a sweetheart neckline a little more conservative for Rachel even though the lace dipped a little with the neckline. The lace laid over the entirety of the top creating a more simplistic elegance. She turned around to look at the back. The lace continued but there was a keyhole in the back from where the fabric started to the top of the lace with a little satin button. The skirt was a simpler A-line with soft and silky fabric. There were a few tulle layers to create some volume and texture, but not much. Kurt had often said that ballgown skirts made people look shorter and Rachel didn't need that especially on her wedding day. There were a few embroidery patterns that embossed parts of the skirt, but they were very faint though and added a bit of simple elegance to the dress. The veil was simple too and went down a little past her waist. Kurt had added to a comb so she could wear it with an updo. It added the perfect touch to the dress.
Rachel finally let out the breath she had been holding in. With tears in her eyes, she looked up at Kurt through the mirror as she barely whispered, "This is the one." She turned to look at herself again and couldn't believe it; she would have never guessed that a dress like this would be the one, but it was. She went over and hugged Kurt for a long time.
Kurt finally spoke and said, "I was kind of going for a modern Grace Kelly vibe with a little bit of Kate Middleton thrown in."
"It's absolutely perfect, Kurt," she replied as she went to hug Blaine. After a moment she just said, "I can't believe it's from a bunch of different thrift shop dresses. You would never be able to guess if you didn't already know!" She chuckled to herself and said, "I just don't know if it would count as something old or something new."
The boys chuckled in response. "Rachel," Kurt admitted, "I wasn't sure if I should at first, but I ended up adding your 'something blue' to the dress."
"Where?" she exclaimed as she twirled trying to catch a glimpse of the blue. Kurt rubbed the space right above his heart to gesture where it was. Rachel looked down and didn't see anything. Then she pulled the fabric away from her breast to look inside. She was instantly overcome with tears. Blaine gave her a hankie and she revealed it to him. Kurt had added some blue embroidery over her heart. Blaine looked a little closer and saw that in a beautiful script font, Kurt had embroidered "Finn".
Blaine choked up to as Kurt spoke through his own tears, "I thought you would want him there with you on the big day."
Rachel went over to him and engulfed him in the biggest hug ever and cried into his shoulder. After a few minutes, she finally pulled away and spoke, "It's perfect Kurt, thank you."
Thankfully Blaine had a second handkerchief that he gave to Kurt. After another moment, Kurt said, "I hate to pry it off you, but it can't get tear stains on it before the big day."
Rachel went to take the dress off. Blaine came over and gave Kurt a hug and a quick kiss. "Out of all the things that I thought you were scheming, I never would have guessed this." He gave Kurt another kiss and said, "I just hope you're prepared."
"Prepared for what?" Kurt asked confused.
"For when all of our other friends want you to construct them their own Kurt Hummel wedding dress!" Blaine announced.
They both laughed and he responded, "It's Kurt Anderson-Hummel," as he kissed Blaine. "And I think Rachel would fight them to keep hers one of a kind."
Blaine laughed and then kissed Kurt deeply. Rachel came out of the bathroom and said with her usual attitude, "Well I thought we were going out to eat after, but I can go."
The two men pulled apart and walked to the door so they could all get something to eat. They were celebrating because Rachel had finally found her dress.
